White and Male Privilege Meets the 2008 Election

Yesterday on BlogHer, Maria Niles posted a must-read primer on the privileged status our society tends to accord whites and males, and how this might affect the current presidential race and beyond. Squirming yet? Don’t worry, you’re not alone…

In Racism and the race: What’s white privilege got to do with it?, Niles notes that race and gender privilege is a thorny, taboo topic in our society—not generally deemed fit for polite conversation. Even in many newsrooms, where the white male-concocted culture of traditional journalism often persists despite increasing diversity, raising the issue of privilege is an easy way to start a heated, emotional argument.

No one likes to admit that they may have benefitted from social privilege. This acknowledgement stirs strong emotional reactions, from guilt to defensiveness to denial to penitence, and more. That makes talking about privilege—and learning to recognize and address it—much harder.

Niles’ essay includes links to many seminal resources, including Tim Wise’s Sept. 13 essay, White Privilege, White Entitlement and the 2008 Election; and Peggy McInTosh’s White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.

Here’s a quote from McIntosh that nails the essence of what it means to have privilege:

“I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege. So I have begun in an untutored way to ask what it is like to have white privilege. I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was “meant” to remain oblivious. White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools , and blank checks.”

Meanwhile, Wise offers a litany of sharply-worded examples of how white and male privilege is manifesting in current campaign coverage and discourse. Although he’s obviously denigrating the Republican candidates, he does make some good point regarding the effects of privilege on the questions that people (including journalists) choose to raise and the assumptions they make. Here are just a couple:

“White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because ‘every family has challenges,’ even as black and Latino families with similar ‘challenges’ are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay. “...White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don’t [roll about] with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you’re ‘untested.’”

Niles notes about the resources mentioned in her essay: “Privilege is not just afforded to whites, however. It is something that in this country benefits men, Christians, heterosexuals, able-bodied people, ... I am including a reading list on privilege for those who are open to learning more about the concept and not just interested in staking out a defensive, so-called color blind position. The more that we open up and engage in these discussions, the closer we inch towards eliminating racism (and sexism and every other ism out there).”

Seems like a good place to start.

Have you noticed white or male privilege in action in your newsroom or community? Does it get acknowledged or addressed? What role can or should news organizations play in clarifying this issue? Please comment below.